A Point of View: The grown-ups with teddy bears - BBC News A Point of View: The grown-ups with teddy bears 1 February 2013 Close share panel The historian David Cannadine considers the enduring appeal of teddy bears for both children and adults. A few days ago, I read the obituary of an extraordinary man named Sir Robert Clark, who'd been born in 1924. During World War II, he was recruited to Churchill's Special Operations Executive , and he was later parachuted behind enemy lines in Italy, where he was captured and incarcerated as a prisoner of war. Thereafter, having been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, he became a major figure in the City of London, and the British government often called on him for advice. He was remembered by one colleague as being "a wonderful man, as clever as could be, but very humble with it". Behind his facade of urbane charm and unfailing politeness, there was a strong will and steely nature.

He used to sit inside my battledress Sir Robert Clark on Falla More on Sir Robert Sir Robert Clark died in January this year in his late 80s, and when reading his obituary I was particularly struck to notice that at the age of two, which must have been in 1926, he'd been given a teddy bear that he called Falla. Throughout Clark's long and varied career, Falla accompanied him everywhere, even when he was parachuted into enemy territory, and while he was a prisoner of war. Perhaps in gratitude for Falla's unfailing loyalty, Sir Robert Clark later became an ardent collector of teddy bears, eventually accumulating more than 300 of them. But such a story of lifelong devotion between man and bear is by no means unique. John Betjeman adored his childhood teddy, whom he named Archibald Ormsby-Gore, and Archie later became the model for Aloysius, who was owned by Lord Sebastian Flyte, in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited.

But although we take teddies for granted today, as the stuffed animals of choice in both fact and fiction, they've only been an integral part of childhood - and also in many cases of adulthood, too - since the early years of the 20th Century. And for that, we have to thank the American President, Theodore Roosevelt, who was known as Teddy, and after whom stuffed bears have ever since been named. Find out more A Point of View is on Fridays on Radio 4 at 20:50 GMT and repeated Sundays, 08:50 GMT David Cannadine is a British historian, author and professor of history at Princeton University Four Thought podcast In 1902, which was only a generation before Robert Clark was born, Roosevelt went on a bear-hunting trip in the state of Mississippi, at the invitation of the governor. One day, after a long, exhausting chase, some of Roosevelt's friends cornered an American black bear, which they tied to a willow tree, and they called upon the President to shoot it. But Roosevelt deemed such a request unsporting, and this episode was later immortalized in a political cartoon by Clifford Berryman published in the Washington Post.

Quite by chance, Berryman's cartoon was noticed by a Russian Jewish immigrant to America named Morris Michtom, who by day sold candy in his store in Brooklyn, while by night making stuffed animals with his wife Rose. Thus inspired, Michtom duly created a stuffed bear cub, and he put it in his shop window, accompanied by a sign that read "Teddy's bear", having already sent an earlier version to Roosevelt, who promptly gave him permission to use his name. The new toy was an immediate success, and the sale of teddies was soon so brisk that Michtom went on to establish the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. At almost the same time, and apparently by entire coincidence, stuffed bears were also being introduced to Germany, where they were first manufactured by Margarete Steiff, who'd been making soft toys since the 1880s, and who'd recently been joined in the business by her nephew Richard. It was Richard Steiff who created his own version of the teddy, which he exhibited at the Leipzig Toy Fair in 1903.

His bear was also an instant hit, and soon the Steiffs were exporting thousands of teddies to Britain, the US and other parts of the world. Thereafter, the advance of teddy bears to global dominion has been inexorable. Nowadays, there are shops which sell only teddy bears, there are teddy bear museums in many countries, and teddy bear festivals regularly take place in Australia, the US, Britain, Canada, Germany and Japan. Meanwhile, and as the example of Aloysius in Brideshead Revisited suggests, teddies have long since become a permanent cultural fixture as well. In 1920, Rupert Bear first appeared as a children's comic strip character in the Daily Express. Soon after, AA Milne published Winnie The Pooh, and the central character was a bear named after a teddy owned by his son. In 1932, the song Teddy Bears' Picnic, with music by John Walter Bratton, and words added by Jimmy Kennedy, became one of the hits of its time.

Twenty years later, the puppet bear Sooty, created by Harry Corbett, made his first appearance on BBC television, and in 1958 Paddington Bear began his illustrious career, celebrated in his bronze statue on the London railway station from which he takes his name. How the teddy got its name Named after former US President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt On a hunting trip in 1902, he was offered a stunned, lassoed bear to shoot but refused Washington Post cartoon of this event inspired Morris Michtom to produce cuddly toys named Teddy's bears Here are bears aplenty, providing whimsy and comedy, diversion and entertainment, for a mass public audience, as well as the comfort and the companionship that they gave to such men as Sir Robert Clark and Sir John Betjeman. They are as much literary creations to be read about as they are manufactured artefacts to be purchased and owned. Yet in many ways these are odd and even inexplicable developments. Beyond doubt, real bears are extraordinary and magnificent creatures. But whether brown or grizzly or polar, they are more vicious predators than cuddly pets, and human beings are well advised to avoid them in the wild.

And what if Teddy Roosevelt had been given a different first name, or had declined the invitation of the governor of Mississippi? Would stuffed bears have become such popular products during the subsequent 100 years? These are some of the unanswered questions of teddy history. But what cannot be denied is the extraordinary appeal of bears, whether stuffed or real. When I was growing up, millions in Britain swooned over Brumas - a polar bear born in Regent's Park Zoo, London, in 1949 - the first bear to be reared in captivity in the UK. Image caption A hit at the children's zoo at Whipsnade in 1962 More recently, another young bear named Knut , born in the Berlin Zoological Gardens, became an international media phenomenon whose life was celebrated and whose death was mourned around the world. And giant pandas have frequently prompted similar levels of interest and sentimental attachment. A polar bear story The death of Knut, the world's most famous polar bear, has reopened the debate on the ethical minefield of man's relationship with wild animals.

From the Magazine, 22 March 2011 Perhaps it's that bears represent the happy security of a childhood friend who never changes or lets you down. For whatever reason, teddies appeal to both children and adults of all ages, in ways that stuffed elephants or tigers or monkeys or ostriches or dolphins never quite do. Nowadays, it's impossible to imagine a world without teddies, which means the stuffed bear must rank as one of the 20th Century's most remarkable inventions and most enduring creations. When Sir John Betjeman died, he was holding Archibald Ormsby-Gore in his arms, and in death, as in life, Falla was with Sir Robert Clark to the very end. As an antidote to the dying of the light, or to the ending of the day, teddies are always with us. How many of you, I wonder, will be taking your bear to bed this evening? I wouldn't dream of asking. And shall I myself be taking mine? I wouldn't dream of telling.

You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook Learn and talk about Archibald Ormsby-Gore, Teddy bears Twitter Archibald Ormsby-Gore, better known as Archie, was the teddy-bear of English poet laureate John Betjeman . Together with a toy elephant known as Jumbo, he was a lifelong companion of Betjeman's. Betjeman brought his bear with him when he went up to university at Oxford in the 1920s, and as a result Archie became the model for Aloysius , Sebastian Flyte's bear in Evelyn Waugh 's novel Brideshead Revisited . In the 1940s, Betjeman also wrote and illustrated a story for his children, entitled Archie and the Strict Baptists, in which the bear's sojourns at the family's successive homes in Uffington and Farnborough are fictionalised. Archie is here described as a member of the Strict Baptist denomination, riding a hedgehog to chapel, and enjoying amateur archaeology, digging up molehills, "which, he considered, were the graves of baby Druids".

A version of the story with illustrations by Phillida Gili was published as a children's book in 1977, Jock Murray, Betjeman's publisher, having declined to publish Betjeman's own coloured illustrations on grounds of cost. Betjeman also wrote a poem "Archibald" in which the bear is temporarily stuffed in the loft for fear of Betjeman appearing "soft" to his father. Archie and Jumbo were in Betjeman's arms when he died in 1984. Archie Strict Baptists by Betjeman - AbeBooks Archie Strict Baptists by Betjeman You Searched For: Results (1 - 22) of 22 Sort By ISBN 10: 0397317859 ISBN 13: 9780397317851 Used ISBN 10: 0397317859 ISBN 13: 9780397317851 Used Hardcover Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: Lippincott, -, 1978. Hardcover. Book Condition: Very Good.

9.60 X 7.30 X 0.40 inches lightly used hardcover in dust jacket. Moderate shelfwear to boards; dust jacket has just a touch of minute wear to the edges, but is not chipped or torn, from panel can a 2' cut that has been tape repaired. Binding remains both clean and strong with no marks to text or other serious flaws. Bookseller Inventory # 10000000124991 Published by W & J Mackay (1977) Used Hardcover First Edition Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: W & J Mackay, 1977. HardBack. Book Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. First Edition. 19x25cm. Wonderful colour illustration to every page by Phillida Gili. Gili has interpreted the authors own rough sketches into full colour illustrations which delightfully portray Archieï¿½s unusual character and adventurous spirit. Title page lightly creased. Endpapers free from inscription. Bound within bright yellow cloth covered boards, with gold gilt embossing of Archie the bear to upper and gilt titles to spine; a little marked and rubbed to edges but in good condition.

Displayed within original dustwrapper; fully illustrated in colour and in good condition with a small amount of wear to edges. Bookseller Inventory # 100089690 Published by John Murray London (1977) Used Hardcover First Edition Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: John Murray London, 1977. 8vo. First edition. Original yellow cloth, gilt. Illustrated by Phillida Gili. Fine in fine dust-wrapper. An unusual children's story about an old toy bear and his determination to attend the nearest Strict Baptist chapel. Sublimely bonkers. Bookseller Inventory # 2085 ISBN 10: 0719534291 ISBN 13: 9780719534294 Used Hardcover First Edition Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: John Murray, 1977. Hard Cover. Book Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Phillida Gili (illustrator). 1st Edition. Undamaged yellow boards and spine, the latter lettered in gilt, the front with a small bear in gilt. Jacket price clipped with no other damage.

Internally traces of sellotape residue to free endpapers; no other marks, clean and tight. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Bookseller Inventory # 003464 ISBN 10: 0719534291 ISBN 13: 9780719534294 Used Hardcover First Edition Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: John Murray, U.K., 1977. Cloth Bound. Book Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. 1st Edition. Yellow cloth covers, clean, unbumped and unmarked with a 10mm surface rubbed strip centrally down front cover. Internally with erased pencil marks to FFEP, four central leaves with tiny (<5 mm hypotenuse) corner turns, page edges with peripheral age toning. Unclipped (£2.50) DW has a 4 x 12mm surface loss chip with attendant 12mm closed split to rear top and an internally tape repaired 10mm closed split with attendant 70mm crease to lower front.

Lightweight book - p & p reduction to equate with cost will apply. Bookseller Inventory # 004169 ISBN 10: 0719534291 ISBN 13: 9780719534294 Used Hardcover Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: John Murray, London, 1977. Hardcover. Book Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good -. Gili, Phillida (illustrator). 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. [32] pages. Yellow cloth, gilt lettering. Jacket has a couple of small tears, neatly repaired with 'magic' tape. Original price corner of jacket removed, publisher's price label (£4.95 rather than original £2.50) adjacent. NB All proceeds to the work of the OXFAM charity. Bookseller Inventory # 021980 Published by John Murray (1977) Used Hardcover First Edition Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: John Murray, 1977. Hardcover. Book Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good.

PHILLIDA GILI (illustrator). First edition. The Story of Archibald Ormsby Gore delightfully portrayed in full colour illustrations by Miss Gili. Gilt vignette to cloth. A lovely copy in a very attractive wrapper. Irresistible!. Bookseller Inventory # 024144 Published by John Murray, (1st edition). (1977) Used Hardcover Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: John Murray, (1st edition)., 1977. No page numbers. Half-title + coloured title page + 28 full page colour plates some with over printed text. Illustrations by Phillida Gili. Boards. Dust jacket little faded, edges curled with 1 small tear (0.5cm). Spine ends little edge worn. Page margins browned. 25x19cms. Bookseller Inventory # 2614 Published by London - John Murray (1977) Used Hardcover First Edition Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: London - John Murray, 1977. Hardcover. Book Condition: VERY GOOD INDEED. First edition.

A first edition of Archie and the Strict Baptistsby John Betjeman. Illustrated by Phillida Gili. This story of Archibald Ormsby Gore, the bear, was written by John Betjeman for his family. Condition: In a yellow cloth binding in an unclipped dustwrapper. Externally, generally smart, lightly rubbed in places. Dustwrapper is generally smart, lightly rubbed in places. There are some chips and closed tears to the extremities. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Overall: VERY GOOD INDEED in a VERY GOOD INDEED dustwrapper. Bookseller Inventory # 039417 BETJEMAN, John (author). Phillida GILI (illustrator). Used Hardcover First Edition ISBN 10: 0719534291 ISBN 13: 9780719534294 Used Hardcover Published by Long Barn Books, 2006.

(2006) Used Hardcover ISBN 10: 0397317859 ISBN 13: 9780397317851 Used ISBN 10: 0397317859 ISBN 13: 9780397317851 New ISBN 10: 0397317859 ISBN 13: 9780397317851 New ISBN 10: 0719534291 ISBN 13: 9780719534294 Used ISBN 10: 0719534291 ISBN 13: 9780719534294 New Hardcover ISBN 10: 0719534291 ISBN 13: 9780719534294 Used Hardcover First Edition Signed Quantity Available: 1 Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: John Murray, 1977. Hardback.

Book Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Gili, Phillida (illustrator). First edition.. 1st 1977. Slightly better than very good condition in an almost very good dustwrapper. The story of Archibald Ormsby Gore, the teddy bear. This book tells of his youthful adventures while hunting for history and flying with home-made wings over the Berkshire Downs and over the village with its church, its four chapels and four public houses. Yellow boards with small gilt vignette of teddy and title in gilt to spine. Colour illustrations throughout. SIGNED by author to half-title page. Minimal bumping to spine and corners. Odd tiny spot to covers. Page edges are browned otherwise contents clean. Dustwrapper is edge worn with loss from top 2" of rear fold. Spine slightly faded. [R]. SIGNED - please see description for details. Book. Bookseller Inventory # 1504435 Archibald Ormsby-Gore - The Full Wiki The Full Wiki More info on Archibald Ormsby-Gore Wikis Advertisements Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article!

This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles . Encyclopedia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Archibald Ormsby-Gore, better known as Archie, was the teddy-bear of English poet laureate John Betjeman . Together with an elephant known as Jumbo, he was a lifelong companion of Betjeman's. Betjeman brought his bear with him when he went up to university at Oxford in the 1920s, and as a result Archie became the model for Aloysius , Sebastian Flyte's bear in Evelyn Waugh 's novel Brideshead Revisited . In the 1940s, Betjeman also wrote an illustrated a story for his children, entitled Archie and the Strict Baptists, in which the bear's sojourns at the family's successive homes in Uffington and Farnborough are fictionalised. Archie is here described as a member of the Strict Baptist denomination, riding a hedgehog to chapel, and enjoying amateur archaeology, digging up molehills, "which, he considered, were the graves of baby Druids".

A version of the story with illustrations by Phillida Gili was published as a children's book in 1977. Betjeman also wrote a poem "Archibald" in which the bear is temporarily stuffed in the loft for fear of Betjeman appearing "soft" to his father. Archie and Jumbo were in Betjeman's arms when he died in 1984. Bibliography Betjeman, John (1977). Archie and the Strict Baptists. London: John Murray. Waugh, Evelyn (1945). Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder. London: Chapman & Hall. Other sources Blog Blog Wednesday, 28 December 2016 11:26:27 Europe/London Peek Frean Teddy Bear Tin. I was given this wonderful old tin for Christmas. I love teddy ephemera !! The company Peek Frean delighted many children of many generations with their Teddy Bear Biscuits, which had an embossed teddy bear shape in the shortcake biscuits.

The small Edwardian tin was intended to be loved by children (and adults like me!) The biscuit makers brought teddies to the London streets in some style, when they introduced their famous teddy biscuits, which remained childrens favourite for generations. Each one of their dellivery vans was supplied with a very large teddy bear who was made by Ralph Dunn & Co. of the Barbican. At first some thirty of these bears - who stood five feet tall - were seen on the streets. However, it was not long before their numbers increased to three hundred by 1909. I love this tin !!! Teddy Bears And Their Famous Companions Thursday, 22 December 2016 11:50:04 Europe/London You see, teddy bears appear from all walks of life, they don't care whether their companion is rich or poor, black or white, they have absolutely no political views, infact all a teddy cares about is giving as much love and comfort to his companion that he can afford - something that perhaps humans should consider ! Many famous people have had a teddy companion, who have remained with them throughout their life...

Alex Tarnoff, the famous dancer was given a teddy bear when he was just five years old (he was born in 1901 - just one year before teddy made his appearance). Tarnoff's bear had black painted boot button eyes and was made of mohair. He is quite an unusual bear in that his arms and legs are rather narrow and they are attached to his body with exterior metal fastenings, which look a lot like metal buttons and they carry the trademark 'Shield'. Actually, this bear does look a lot like an early French Bear which dates back to the 1920's - 1930's (these bears had external jointing such as this). The problem, however, is, if this were the case then the dates do not add up, so I suppose the teddy will always pose a bit of a mystery. Sadly Tarnoff died in 1989, so we cannot simply ask him about this history of his teddy bear.

The late and great poet, Sir John Betjeman (1906 - 1984) had a beloved teddy who was made by th famous German makers, Steiff (circa 1910). Sir John derived great comfort from his bear whom he named Archibald Ormsby Gore. Betjeman wrote : When nine, I hid you in the loft And dared not let you share my bed; My Father would have thought me soft, So at least my Mother said. Sir John even wrote Archibald into his poem called 'Summoned by Bells'. When he died, Archibald was in his arms. The famous actress Dame Judy Dench, famous for her role as 'M' in the Bond films, is an avid collector of teddy bears and has well over 100 in her collection. Probably her most favourite bear is her first teddy (like so many of us), his name is Gray. Ms Dench has dressed him in wonderful green trousers. Elvis Presley had many teddy bears in his collection, or so it is said. We do know, that he had a very special bear whom he named Mabel.

Sadly Mabel went to teddy bear heaven when, after visiting England for an exhibition, she was confronted by a dog. Elvis had a hit song called 'Teddy Bear' and later he was bombarded with teddy bears on stage by his fans every time he sang the song. Talking of teddy bear songs, do you remeber the lovely Shirley Temple singing 'Me and My Teddy Bear' as a child? This song was later discovered by modern day singers such as Peter Gabriel, Sharron Corr and Rosemary Clooney. The late Earl Mountbatten of Burman (1900 - 1979) owned a beautiful and very much loved Steiff Bear (circa 1904), presumably the bear was given to him by one of his German relatives.

There are infact so many famous people with teddy companions that I could mention, from the Royals to famous Sportsmen and women, but this is a blog and would be more like a book if I wrote them all down, so for now I will leave you just with the thought that, when all your friends disappear (as they do so often when you become famous), when you feel there is absolutely no hope in sight, your teddy bear will ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU. On that you can forever depend. Lorraine x Friday, 2 December 2016 15:16:44 Europe/London Richard Steiff. Born on 7 February 1877, the second son of Fritz Steiff and his wife Anna. He was the first of Margarete's nephews to join her staff at the felt business in 1897, in which he played an active part since his youth, as he was always considered to be Margarete's favourite nephew. As a child he captured his Aunt's attention, possibly due to his creativity and imagination as well as his practical ability. Richard was sent by his Father (who was a leading mason) to study at the Commercial Art School in Stuttgart..

His first proper job in the family business in 1897 was to represent the company at the famous Leipzig Trade Show. In 1898, he travelled to England where he became very popular with both fellow businessmen and customers alike. Upon his return to Germany he finally devotaed his time to the design and production of toys. In 1902, he produced the first soft toy bear (that we know as the Teddy Bear today). He had noticed for a long time that children loved the bears that were being produced by his Aunt;s company, but at that time they were 'on wheels' and so could not be cuddled. Richard also had a great liking for bears himself, infact on studying animals at Stuttgart Zoo, he always paid particular attention to the bears. He produced many clay models and drawings and finally had the idea to create a doll-like bear that children could hold close. The teddy bear very soon became famous world-wide.

Children in German Richard was a clever man, not only designing great toys like the teddy bear, but also developing plans for the Steiff Factory which he wanted to be made entirely from glass, 'the so-called Glass Buildings' that would make history in the field of industrial architecture and which was jockingly nicknamed 'Virgin Fish Tanks' by locals, because they were made of glass and the employees were mostly young women. He was also a great ice-skater and dancer (this is how he met his future wife - Else). He took part in amateur dramatics, he sang in the Giengen Mens Choir and was a member of the Volunteer Fire Department. He was a keen photographer, he flew hot-air balloons and small aircraft and he even designed and produced an 'Air-Kite' which lifted him into the sky. Later he moved to the United States with his wife, Else and their daughter, Marianne. On 31 March 1939, Richard Steiff died at the age of just 63 of a massive heart attack. The local newspaper carried a tribute to him under the title 'Richard Steiff - Inventor, Artist and War Veteran, dies suiddenly.

The inventor of the Teddy Bear is dead.' Lorraine x Monday, 28 November 2016 14:50:49 Europe/London Wendy Boston Teddy Bears. One of my favourite makers of teddies, is the wonderful Welsh makers from days gone by named Wendy Boston. Born in January 1909 in Acocks Green, Birmingham - Nora Wendy Boston grew up in a family that was used to commerce. Her Father, Ernest was a coal merchant whilst her Mother (Nora Jenkins) was a part of the 'Jenkins Silver Company' who had a factory in Birmingham. The young Wendy started out studying at the Lawnside Art College and later she went on to work at the famous Cadbury's factory, where her job was to produce promotional materials. She later married Ken Williams and all went really well for the newly married couple, that is until the start of the war when Ken joined the RAF. In 1941, however, he was invalided out. He then worked in a number of roles in both retail and pubs until their home was bombed. It was at that time that both Ken and Wendy decided to use the upset to move on and make a completely fresh start.

The move was to take them to a wonderful little town just outside of Abergavenny in Wales called Crickhowell. Due to the austerity of the war years, Wendy used old blankets and any old scraps of material that she could find to make some soft toys for the children of friends. These toys were really rather lovely and became very popular and Ken, who was never one to pass by an opportunity, took a box of Wendy's toys to a Cardiff Department store, who it seems, without any heitation at all bought the lot for £100 - an awful lot of money in those times. In 1945, the company was formed with one lock-up shop, one female employee and of course Ken and Wendy. It was decided to use Wendy's maiden name to register the business 'Wendy Bost (Crickhowell) Limited.' The popular material, Nylon was invented in 1935 but no-one had seen the potential to use it for soft toy making, instead manufacturers used mohair, and materials such as kapok for stuffing. It was Ken who approached a Yorkshire based company to supply them with a nylon plush.

It was to be the material that Wendy used to construct her very distinctive teddy bears that during the next few years sold in their thousands. Stella with one of the famous Wendy Boston Toys. The small site in Crickhowell soon became far too small to keep up with the demand for toys and so another factory was opened in Aberganvenny. This factory was much more modern than the one in Crickhowell, incorporating a glass-walled office for Ken to work from. In 1955, not long after it opened, these new premises was devastated by fire. Not only was the premises all but destroyed, but also three large export orders and lots of raw materials was lost too. However, luckily stock records and order books were saved due to being stored in metal cabinets. A third factory was later added, this time at Tiryberth allong with a showroom in the West End of London.

With the advent of health and safety issues, Ken and Wendy could see that soon teddy bears and soft toys was glass eyes on wires (that so often rusted and broke) would be banned and so they set about designing and produced a screw lock-in plastic eye with rust proofed nuts and this design was released in 1948. The stuffing of toys was also soon to be an issue and on a visit by Ken to Woolworth one day, he noticed some washable foam and brought some back with him to the factory, which he experimented on, initially slicing the foam into strips and later making it into cubes. This foam was dustless, springy and quick-dry. The new fully washable bear hit the market in 1954, being launced on the BBC in 1995. Lorraine x Monday, 21 November 2016 15:19:29 Europe/London Ed Bear by W.J. Terry At the beginning of twentieth century, many British toy companies started to produce teddy bears.

Many of the larger companies are very well documented, making it quite easy for us to identify their bears, by putting labels, buttons and swing tags on their teddy bears. However, there were also very many companies who started up, especially when the teddy bear boom hit and almost as quickly as they opened their doors, they closed them, leaving behind them absolutely no trace of records on how to identify one of their teddy bears. This can make identifying many old bears almost if not impossible to identify. One very important company, who had a very similar history to that of J.K. Farnell was the makers W.J. Terry, who was originally a skin merchant that was founded by William J. Terry way back in the year 1890. At the turn of the century, this company began producing soft toys that were covered with real animal fur and by 1909, after the success of a little toy dog called Terry'er that was based on King Edward VII's dog Caesar, the company found itself in a position to open a very large factory at 25 Middleton Road in Hackney, London.

In 1913, the company moved premises to Lavendar Grove, which was also in Hackney, where they continued to produce the Terry'er Toys range which by now also included some mohair plush teddy bears....like our old bear Ed. Their teddy bears seemed to take on an overall look of the Farnell Bear and that is the reason why, sometimes today the two makers can so very easily become confused. Just like Farnell, Terry favoured using very large glass eyes and their teddies also had a large hump on their backs (Ed has a very, very large hump on his back!). They also adopted the technique of webbed-paw claws (sadly Ed's paw pads have alll been recovered many moons ago). In the year 1924, upon the death of William Terry, his son Frederick struggled to keep the business going and like so many other companies, it was hit by the worldwide Depression of the 1930's and so by the time the Second World War had begun, the company had closed its doors. Ed came to live with me almost a year ago now. He was a Christmas gift from someone special.

He has had most of his fur coat loved off and his joints are more than a little bit stiff, but still Ed is very strong and he often comes for walks in the country with me. He is absolutely fine, just as long as I put a warm sweater on his, a scarf and a cosy hat - to protect his old bald body. I just wish I knew who loved him in the past. Lorraine x Thursday, 17 November 2016 14:57:40 Europe/London Eleanor Bear. Before the birth of the teddy bear craze, many soft toys were made from 'real' fur, then when mohair came along, it provided a material that didn't stain easily and was very soft to the touch, whilst still looking like real fur. Many alternative materials were looked at and tried by many manufacturers, usually to keep the price of the toys down and of course, also in times of shortages, such as between the world wars.

Amongst the many alternatives tried was something named Burlap, a closely woven material with a sacking kind of look which was made of jute and cotton to provide a hard-wearing fabric, but although many teddy bears were made of this (and a few survive to this day), it was not popular, as it was very hard both in looks and to the touch. For filling teddy bears, most manufacturers used something called 'wood wool' or 'kapok', but there was a couple of makers who experimented with some very strange fillings such as cork granules (the toy makers Chad Valley tried this) but again, this was not very popular. During the years of WW2, few major manufacturers were making toys as most of the factories had been taken over by the Ministry for essential war work. Stuffing during those times changed and saw the introduction of sub or flock, which was leftovers from fabric mills. Of course, by the late 1950's, the health & safety rules began to come into force and a range of teddy bears who were marketed as 'fully washable' came on to the market.

It was a company named Wendy Boston who began this trend, making soft toys and teddy bears from synthetic fabrics and stuffing them with foam chippings, making their bears fully washable (even in a washing machine and put through a mangle - yes really!!!) Along with the washable bodies also came safety eyes too, no longer were glass eyes with long metal shanks acceptable, as these were deemed as far to unsuitale for children. Teddy bear joints were usually made from compressed cardboard or metal and sometimes even both and these were joined with split pins. (This method of jointing a teddy is still being used to this very day. ) Paw pads were usually made of felt and some of the more expensive manufacturers used two layers of felt on their bears. However, when materials became short (felt was one of them during the early years), many other options were both looked at and used.

During the 1930's paw pads were also made from cotton, velveteen and a new material called 'rexine', a kind of leather look-a-like and, although this was very successful in its day, after a while it started to peel revealing a woven fabric underneath (you will see old bears with peeling paw pads very often today). Early teddy bears had boot/shoe button eyes that were made of wood and the very early ones of metal. Eyes soon started to change and at the start of the 1920's, clear glass eyes with black pupils were becoming popular, these were often painted on the back. Noses were usually stitched on, but many early Steiff Bears had sealing wax for noses. This was stopped, however, after a very short period because when the wax became hard it became quite fragile and came off easily. During the 1950's the makers Chiltern brought in a plastic nose for their teddy bears, that was, it is said, modelled on a little dog's nose. So you see, how your old bear is stuffed, what his eyes are made of and what paw pads he has can really help to date him and even help to reveal his makers.

Lorraine x Wednesday, 16 November 2016 15:12:57 Europe/London Old Chiltern Teddy Bear Named Ian. I suppose you could say that Chiltern Bears were produced because of the First World War, which had a big effect on the teddy bear industry because all German imports (and that included teddy) were not allowed into England and of course, this opened up a very large gap in the teddy bear market. However, you could also say that the story of Chiltern intertwined with both Germany and England. Chiltern Toys was originally founded in Germany in 1881, as a toy export company. It was started by two brothers - Josef and Gabriel Eisenmann. Josef lived in London at 45 Whitecross Street while his brother remained in Germany in Furth, Bavaria. In 1900 Leon Rees joined Josef as a business partner and this partnership was somewhat strengthened when Leon married Josef's daughter. The company, Eisenmann & Co. Ltd. brought teddy bears from Germany to Britain.

In 1908, Eisenmann opened the Chiltern Works that was based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, although their production was mostly concentrated on dolls. When the First World War began and teddy bears were stopped from entering this country from Germany, the company started to then turn their attention to producing teddy bears. It launched its first teddy "Master Teddy" in 1915. Eisenmann & Co. did produce some teddy bears too (which often traded under the name of 'Einco' - these bears had webbed claws and can often be misten for Farnell Bears). H.G. Stone & Co. was a company that was founded in 1920. Harry Stone (who was a former director of J.K. Farnell) joined forces with Leon Rees in 1919 when Rees inherited the Chiltern Works from his Father-in-Law. Both Stone and Rees opened a further factory in 1921 in Tottenham, North London - Rees takking charge of the marketing while Stone took charge of both design and manufacture.

The first toys to be marketed was under the Chiltern Toys label in 1923 and included the popular Chiltern Hugmee Bears. By the end of 1926, H.G. Stone & Co. was one of Britain's leading high street toy makers, the company always priding themselves on the quality of their toys, always being ectremely careful to use on the very best quality materials and hence, that is why so many old Chiltern teddies survive to this day. This, however, did not stop the company from producing one of the very first artificial silk plush teddy bears in 1929 (known as Silky Teddy) and it proved very popular indeed. H.G. Stone & Co. was lucky to be one of the very few manufacturers to continue working throughout the Second World War at its London factory, although work was stopped at the Chesham factory. Even Hugmee Bears were still produced, although, as materials were in such short supply their design did change a little (muzzles tended to become very much shorter).

At the end of the war years, the company, anticipating a large growth in the teddy bear market relocated its premises to Pontypool in Wales, as they needed much larger premises to incorporate a school to teach their workforce about soft toy making. Then in 1967 the Chad Valley Company acquired H.G. Stone & Co. (Chiltern Toys) and became the country's largest soft toy makers. With this purchase, Chad Valley moved their production of toys to Chiltern's factory in Wales and for a while the label 'Chad Valley Chiltern Hygenic Toys Made In England' was used, despite the toys actually being made in Wales. Then along came the seventies, which it has to be said was a very sad time for the teddy bear when dozens of manufacturers were forced to close their doors. Why? Well, firstly because the birth rate had fallen dramatically and secondly, the very few toy companies left decided to produce more modern and exciting toys that children of that decade demanded.

Even sadder was the fact that teddy bears on the market were being made very cheaply by companies in the Far East and so, the depression hit Chad Valley, although it made many attempts to survive but in 1978 sold out to Pallitoy. In 1988, the wonderful name of Chad Valley was bought by Woolworth who used the label for their low-quality toys that were made in the Far East and which did not resemble in any way the old teddy bears of either Chiltern or Chad Valley of days gone by. Such a sad story of one of the greatest soft toy makers that has ever been. Lorraine. Antique Teddy Bear Or Modern ? Tuesday, 15 November 2016 12:06:43 Europe/London Probably the question I am asked most is 'Should I buy an old teddy bear or a more modern teddy bear as a special gift?' I usually start with a question 'How old is the person you are buying this bear for?' This is very important and I will tell you why.

You see if you are buying a teddy for a small child or even a baby, then an old bear has both health and safety issues, for example an old bear has glass eyes and sometimes his stuffing is not always child friendly and also we have to remember that a child needs a teddy bear to hug, kiss and take to bed and old teddy bears are often very fragile and wouldn't last too long under these conditions. However, saying this, I do have a number of customers who have bought older bears for their children and have put them inside a cabinet in their nursery until they are older, as I agree with them when they say old teddy bears are a piece of artwork. I always advise buying a small child or baby a Classic Teddy Bear because these particular bears can become anything or any character the child wishes them to take on, they can even be dressed and so both child and teddy can grow together. Don't forget that teddy bears who grow up with children are always unique, no two bears EVER look the same later on in life, the bear will become the old collectors bear of tomorrow.

Many people buy old teddy bears for an elderly friend or relative because a particular bear looks like the one they had as a child, or a Grand Mother or Grandad will love an old bear who could be the same age as them and so talk and memories can be swapped with the teddy and I find this absolutely wonderful. Lorraine x About Rexine Wednesday, 2 March 2016 15:49:36 Europe/London When you look at many old teddy bears paw pads you will see that they are 'peeling'. I am often asked why this is. Rexine is a tradename for a leathercloth or an imitation leather material used in upholstery and bookbinding. It was first listed in the Trademarks Journal as belonging to the British Leather-Cloth Manufacturing Company Limited (later to become Rexine Limied), Hyde, Nr Manchester. Rexine is formed by covering a woven fabric with several coatings of cellulose nitrate. The term is now often used to describe the leather-cloth used on British and Australian teddy bear pads from the late 1930's to the early 1960's.

Lorraine x John Betjeman.com A further biography can be found at the John Betjeman Wikipedia page and in this book... John Betjeman - a brief biography John Betjeman was born on August 28th, 1906, near Highgate, London. His father was Ernest Betjemann, a cabinet maker, a trade which had been in the family for several generations. The family name was Betjemann, with two 'n's, but John dropped the second 'n' during the First World War, to make the name less German. John was an only child, and by all accounts had a lonely childhood, taking comfort from his teddy bear, Archibald, later to feature in his children's story, Archie and the Strict Baptists. Having attended his first schools in Highgate, John became a boarder at Dragon School, Oxford, aged eleven. Three years later, he went to Marlborough College, again as a boarder. Throughout John's childhood, his family went for holidays to Trebetherick in Cornwall, where his father owned a number of properties. These seemed to have been the happiest times for JB, and are remembered in many of his poems.

In 1925, JB went to Magdalen College, Oxford. However, the many distractions of college life meant that he did not complete his degree, having failed a Divinity exam. He became a teacher at Thorpe House School, Gerrard's Cross, before working as a private secretary, and then at another prep school. In 1930, JB became an assistant editor of The Architectural Review. In 1931, his first book of poems, Mount Zion, was published by an old Oxford friend, Edward James. Soon afterwards, JB met and married Penelope Chetwode, the daughter of Field Marshal Lord Chetwode, a former Commander-in-Chief in India. It was clear that he did not approve of JB. His second book was Ghastly Good Taste, a commentary on architecture, published in 1934. JB and Penelope moved to Uffington in Berkshire, and John was given the job of film critic for the Evening Standard, but he continued to write poetry, and his next book, Continual Dew, appeared in 1937. He also began work on the series of Shell Guides to the counties of England.

His prolific writing output continued throughout the 30s and 40s, with books and magazine articles appearing regularly. In 1941, JB went to Dublin, as the Press Officer to the British Representative. Many years later, it was revealed that the IRA thought he was a spy, and considered assassinating him. However, on reading his poetry, they decided otherwise. His daughter Candida was born in 1942. Returning to England in 1943, JB worked in the Ministry of Information, and continued to write for a number of publications. The family eventually settled in Wantage in 1951. A Few Late Chrysanthemums was published in 1952, and by the mid 1950's, JB was a well-known figure, making both radio and television appearances, commenting on architecture and campaigning for many threatened buildings. Collected Poems and his verse autobiography, Summoned by Bells, were both best sellers. His broadcasting career continued during the 1960's and 70's, with documentaries such as Metroland and A Passion for Churches.

In 1969, he was knighted, and when Cecil Day Lewis died in 1972, JB was made Poet Laureate. His last book of new poems, A Nip in The Air, was published in 1974. After that, he began to suffer from Parkinson's Disease, and a series of strokes reduced his mobility. John Betjeman died on May 19th 1984, at his home in Trebetherick. He was buried in the nearby church of St.Enodoc.

Question: Archibald Ormsby-Gore was the teddy bear of which author?
Answer: JOHN BETJEMAN